Sweet & Spicy Bacon Soda Chicken

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re on a “cooking with bacon soda” kick. That’s because we get really lazy in summer and like to make cooking with bacon as easy (and as delicious) as possible. This Sweet and Spicy Chicken recipe takes a little more work, but the results are worth it. We used bacon grease, cooked bacon and a bottle of bacon soda to give this chicken lots of bacon flavor. We add a hefty amount of red chili flakes to give it a spicy kick. You can adjust that down if you want less spice. Serve with white rice to soak up the extra sauce. This recipe makes 8-12 servings, so you can make it on Sunday and eat it the rest of the week.

1. Heat bacon grease over medium heat. Add chicken and sear until outsides are cooked. Remove from pan and set aside on a plate.

2. Add chili and garlic to oil and stir fry until fragrant. Add soda, soy sauce and sake. Bring to a boil. Add chicken and bacon to soda mixture and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

3. Remove chicken from pan. Add cornstarch to sauce and stir to remove lumps and thicken sauce. Allow sauce to thicken to desired consistency. Pour sauce over chicken, top with green onions, and serve over rice.

This meaty breakfast pizza has a spicy kick to it! We used Bourbon Street Cajun Bacon, spicy sausage and garnished with several healthy doses of hot sauce on this pizza. We also used a pre-made Boboli pizza crust. You could also make your own crust from scratch or use pre-made dough from Trader Joe’s. Eggs, bacon and sausage on cheesy crust is our idea of a heavenly breakfast. You could simplify this by leaving out the sausage or make it even more heavenly by adding some spicy fried potatoes.

Here at Bacon Today, there’s not many foods we can think of that can’t be improved by adding bacon. However, the one food that we have difficulty combining with bacon is lemon. Lemon bars with bacon just doesn’t sound that great. Lemon meringue pie with bacon? Nuh-uh. So we’ve been wracking our brains trying to come up with a recipe that will meld our favorite food—bacon—with one of our other favorite foods—anything made with lemons.

This Lemon Dijon Bacon Potato Salad is the perfect recipe for fans of lemon and bacon! The lemon flavor is subtle and is enhanced by Bacon Freak’s “Pucker up Porky Lemon Garlic Bacon.” The lemon juice and the Dijon give this potato salad its tangy flavor, and it’s balanced by the addition of honey. You can add more honey if you like a sweeter potato salad.

1. Scrub potatoes and place in a large pot of water. Cut large potatoes in half if needed so they are uniform in size. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until tender.

2. Drain potatoes and then place in a large bowl or dish to cool. When cool enough to handle, remove the potato skins with a knife. You may leave the skins on if desired. Cut into small 1” chunks and place half the potatoes in another bowl.

3. Mix the mayo, lemon juice, Dijon, honey and chopped chives. Add salt and pepper and adjust seasoning to taste. May add more lemon juice or honey if you want it more tangy vs. more sweet.

4. Pour half the liquid mixture over half the potatoes. Mix until combined. Continue to peel and chop the cooked potatoes and add to the bowl. When all the potatoes are peeled, pour the rest of the mayo mix over the potatoes and stir again.

5. Allow to chill for 4 hours or overnight. Just before serving, add the chopped bacon and additional chives as garnish (if desired). Serve and enjoy!

Eggs Benedict is traditionally made with ham, but bacon fans know that this dish is better with bacon! This recipe comes from Maple Leaf Farms and as pictured is made with (believe it or not) duck bacon. Duck bacon is a lean alternative to traditional pork bacon for those poor folks who have to watch their fat and sodium intake. Unlike turkey bacon, Maple Leaf Farms Duck Bacon doesn’t compromise on taste or texture. Naturally Applewood Smoked Duck Bacon made exclusively with boneless duck breast meat is cured and cut thick. It has 57% less fat and 26% less sodium than pork bacon. If duck bacon’s not your thing, substitute your favorite pork bacon.

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July 24th is National Tequila Day! In fact, July and August are filled with food holidays involving booze, including Daiquiri Day, Scotch Day, Piña Colada Day, Rum Day, and Whiskey Sour Day. It’s true, Americans love to booze it up in the summertime. While contemplating how to celebrate such a significant holiday like “Tequila Day,” I decided to try making candied tequila bacon. I’ve seen plenty of candied bourbon bacon recipes across the blogosphere, but not any recipes that use different types of alcohol.

Because tequila is one of my very favorite types of alcohol, it seemed like a good one to experiment with. For this recipe, I wanted the bacon to retain the flavor of the tequila. Most recipes for bourbon bacon use a small amount of bacon that is added right before it is cooked. This recipe involves soaking the bacon in tequila for several hours. This process tenderized the bacon, but it still held together and cooked up fine.

I added cayenne to the brown sugar, and a smattering of lime zest to give these a “Margarita” theme. They were delicious! They’d be great as an appetizer for a summer party of BBQ. They’d also be a great garnish for a margarita. I served them on skewers, displayed in Mason jars at a recent party, and they were quickly devoured. What type of “alcoholic bacon” would you most like to try?

1. Remove the bacon from the package and separate into strips. Lay each strip in a shallow baking dish or bowl. Add enough tequila so that all the bacon is in the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6-8 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 400 F. Remove bacon from fridge and discard alcohol. Pat each piece of bacon dry using a dishrag or paper towels. Rub brown sugar lightly onto both sides of each piece of bacon, and lay pieces in a large casserole dish or rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle cayenne and lime zest over each piece.

3. Bake for 10-15 minutes, checking frequently so the bacon doesn’t burn, and cook until done. Allow to cool until the bacon can be picked up with your fingers. While the bacon is still pliable, thread onto skewers. Set each skewer on a plate until it is fully cooled. Serve and enjoy!

Americans love hot dogs so much, July has been designated “National Hot Dog” month. And bacon-wrapped hot dogs are becoming increasingly popular. Wrapping hot dogs in bacon adds layers of flavor and texture and vastly increases the appeal of the hot dog.

The versatility of hot dogs also contributes to their popularity. When you think about all the combinations of various toppings, buns, dogs, and bacons, you could make hot dogs every day of summer and come up with something different each time.

These recipes will help you mix it up this summer and make sure your hot dog dishes are never dull and boring. They’re perfect for celebrating National Hot Dog Month, and especially on July 23, National Hot Dog Day.

This recipe has a LOT of ingredients. You can take shortcuts by simplifying the recipe for onion rings, or buying store bought BBQ sauce. Or, prepare everything from scratch for an elegant, gourmet entree that will impress the heck out of your summer party guests. These would go great with a bacon-infused bourbon cocktail.

The Spicy Chipotle Sauce whips up fast and really gives this recipe its zing. Make a double batch of sauce and use it on other favorite summer recipes like burgers, tacos and baked potatoes. A slightly sweet Gewurztraminer wine will balance out the spiciness of the dish.

These teriyaki dogs with pineapple salsa are served on a soft, sweet King’s Hawaiian bun. They’ll make you feel like you’re vacationing on a tropical island. Especially when served with Maui Brewing Co’s Coconut Porter or a Kona Pale Ale.

Bacon Cream Soda Toffee Cupcakes

When we first tried Cicero Beverage Co.’s Candied Bacon Cream Soda, we were in LOVE! This candied bacon flavored soda is highly drinkable. Cicero Beverage Co. has bottled the sweet fizzy flavor of cream soda, with a hint of sweet candied bacon. Our love for this soda inspired this cupcake recipe. A small amount of the bacon soda goes in to these cupcakes, giving them a slight cream soda flavor. Add some toffee, candied bacon and a cream cheese frosting and you’ve got a deliciously addictive cupcake that everyone will want the recipe for. Our recipe was adapted from this one. If you don’t have bacon grease readily available in your fridge (shame on you!) you can leave it out.

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a muffin/cupcake pan with cupcake liners and set aside. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.

2. In the large bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream the softened butter with the sugars. Mix for 30-60 seconds on high until combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, on low until combined. Add the bacon grease and vanilla extract and mix.

3. Alternately add flour mixture, buttermilk, and Candied Bacon Cream Soda to the butter mixture, beating on low after each addition until combined. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 16-18 min. or until tops spring back when touched. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

4. Mix the cream cheese and add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time. Beat until well blended and creamy. Make sure the cupcakes have fully cooled before frosting. Sprinkle with the chopped bacon and toffee. Serve and enjoy! Makes 18 cupcakes.

We’ve got many favorite summer beverages. Beer is high on the list, of course. Along with lemonade, iced tea and bourbon on the rocks. We also love kicking back with an ice cold bacon beverage like this Maple Bacon Soda. As much as we love drinking this soda (sometimes we add some of the aforementioned bourbon), we thought, why not cook with it as well? And so, this pulled pork recipe was born.

It’s incredibly easy to make. All you will need is a pork butt roast, a bottle of this soda, an onion, salt and pepper and a crock pot. Yup, you don’t even have to turn on an oven or a burner to make this pulled pork. You can add BBQ sauce if you like, or eat it without. The soda will give it a mild sweetness. Mmmm pork! This sugary-sweet soda is made with real cane sugar and tastes like delicious maple syrup with a hint of smoky bacon flavor.

Summer is officially here and that means sitting by the pool, drinking a big boozy beverage containing a tiny umbrella. What could be better than sun on your face and condensation on your glass? The smell of bacon wafting by on a warm breeze, of course. We combined bacon and “the beach” with a playful take on the classic “Sex on the Beach” cocktail. This drink starts sweet and tangy and finishes smoky and savory. Add some extra bacon flavor by rimming your glass with hickory-flavored sea salt or sweeten it up with a dash of grenadine. Do both. We won’t tell anyone.

Instructions:
Coat the rim of a Collins glass with bacon rim salt, if desired.
Fill a shaker with ice.
Add vodka, schnapps, and crème de cocoa to the shaker. Fill with orange juice.
Shake until frost coats the outside of the shaker.
Add a slice of candied bacon as delicious garnish!
Empty the shaker into the prepared glass. Top with grenadine and garnish with an orange slice or maraschino cherry, if desired.

Coo Coo for Cocoa Caramel Bacon Puffs Ingredients

Directions

1. Cook the bacon and chop it up into pieces, they can be large or small, it’s up to you.
2. In a large bowl, microwave butter and marshmallows for about a minute, until the marshmallows get big and puffy. Mix well.
3. Stir in Cocoa Puffs® cereal and caramel corn.
4. Transfer to a greased 9×13 dish and smooth out. Let them cool, then cut into squares.
5. For extra fun, drizzle with milk chocolate and white chocolate.